Practice Facility- Spring '27

[BCPanther]

UNI will ask the BOR to approve construction of the new Practice Facility at the Feb 27th meeting.

$14M project, directly south of the McLeod Center with construction beginning in August.

Renderings available at the UNI Facilities link.

https://www.iowaregents.edu/meetings/past-meeting-agendas/february-27-2025

Game Changing.

[Neighbor]

I like it. a bit surprised the building isn't connected to the McLeod but I guess it works.

[7YrsOfCollegeDownTheDrain]

so exciting to see this happening - maybe a tunnel to connect the two? either way a huge upgrade for those programs and the university

[FOTY]

Great news! Fundraising must be coming along faster than has been public.

Like the move to the South, everything I recall seeing had it taking over parking on the West.
That entry area between buildings is gonna be quite the wind tunnel. Especially in Jan/Feb. But don’t care, excited to see actual progress.

[BCPanther]

You don't have to move any water or sewer to build there. That's a huge savings.

[Khan4Cats]

Are there any locker rooms? It doesn't appear so on the plans.

[BCPanther]

Are there any locker rooms? It doesn't appear so on the plans.

Don't believe so. They'll continue using their suites in the McLeod Center.

[Wxcpanther]

Don't believe so. They'll continue using their suites in the McLeod Center.

Which would be another big savings.

[nadf.]

so exciting to see this happening - maybe a tunnel to connect the two? either way a huge upgrade for those programs and the university

It doesn't seem like there would be any practical way to have a tunnel from the current lockerrooms to the new building. Players will have to walk up the McLeod stairs and go outside which seems kinda awkward but much better than trekking all the way to the WRC like they are doing now.

[nadf.]

This is just awesome though. We are healing.

Cedar Falls will never be an easy place to recruit to, but at least now Jake will not be fighting with an arm tied behind his back.

[kochrab]

That's truly incredible. I love the feel of having everything close by. The best is yet to come!

[PantherAlum09]

I love what this means for men's basketball but this is also great for women's basketball and volleyball. Great programs that deserve some support. I'm anxious to see the final product.

[Panther AC]

Great news! Fundraising must be coming along faster than has been public.

Like the move to the South, everything I recall seeing had it taking over parking on the West.
That entry area between buildings is gonna be quite the wind tunnel. Especially in Jan/Feb. But don’t care, excited to see actual progress.

Coach Jake, with assistance from the fundraisers in the Foundation, is primarily responsible for acquiring the money and pledges. A small group of supporters have made seven-figure donations and after securing these, a larger group of people has made six-figure gifts. He has been much more active and successful in the process than Bobbie or Tanya.

If you have attended a men's game, women's game or wrestling meet this season, you might have noticed video and audio appeals during timeouts for both the Dome project and wrestling practice facility, but not for the court sports facility. That was intentional so as not to take away from the $50 million needed for Dome renovation and the more challenging effort to raise the $5 million for the wrestling facility. Jake and the Foundation have secured money and pledges mostly in private from major donors.

[BCPanther]

Thanks AC!

Great insight. I'll be interested to see what the naming rights situation looks like.

We're also a year away from being able to sell new rights to the McLeod Center which I hope is on the department's radar. It's long past forgotten history now on how Clark McLeod made his money but I'll be glad when his name is off the building. Even if we don't find a rights buyer right away, it needs to be changed to Eldon Miller Arena in the interim.

[ronfitch]

Thanks AC!

Great insight. I'll be interested to see what the naming rights situation looks like.

We're also a year away from being able to sell new rights to the McLeod Center which I hope is on the department's radar. It's long past forgotten history now on how Clark McLeod made his money but I'll be glad when his name is off the building. Even if we don't find a rights buyer right away, it needs to be changed to Eldon Miller Arena in the interim.

When I worked at UNI in the '90s, the folks in the what is now called the Innovative Teaching and Technology Center (I simply cannot pull what the the name was then, but it was then located in old Catholic Student Center, kitty-corner from CopyWorks on the corner of 23rd and College Streets) were heavily involved creating training materials and training teachers/staff all over the state to use the Iowa Communications Network, an ambitious fiber-based network to connect all counties in Iowa (https://icn.iowa.gov/about/history). It was a multiyear, big dollar project for UNI (the training part) and also involved some of the faculty from Education (I know a few people who used that experience as part of their masters thesis). My office was in that building and I worked with these folks every day.

Anyway, the ICN was a huge deal in the state. It linked k-12 schools in all 99 counties, the Regents universities, the community colleges, state offices and hospitals. I was there as this phase was underway, with at least one public school in each county being in the network and the plan was to continue to add to it.

At one point - around '95, I think - I recall hearing from people in the building - people who would know - that Clark McLeod was trying to purchase the ICN from the state but the state would not entertain the idea (remember, the WWW was barely a thing at that point). But McLeod was flush with cash and the company was growing at the time.

Every time I hear "McLeod Center" I think back to this.